Even though i'm Dutch and i think both Dumoulin and Kelderman certainly have talent i must say that i am shocked by the results of the team.

I can see this team win a GT or a couple of sprint stages or have the KOM-jersey or have a Vuelta podium.However....Dumoulin winner of the Giro d'ItaliaMatthews winner of a bunch of Tour de France stagesBarguil winner of the KOM-jersey & 2 mountain stages in the TDF and 10th overallKelderman going for the podium in the Vuelta

Maybe i am pessimistic, but this makes my doping radar go on tilt....

How do you guys look at the team? Should i recalibrate my radar? Or is this starting to look quite dodgy?

Dekker_Tifosi wrote:just developing the best u23 talents there are for years.. why is it suspicious some of them also become of the best when they are pro's later on?

they did the same with kittel and degenkolb, but then in sprint + classics

While i agree that Dumoulin and Kelderman progression looks almost believable, how do you think they are able to keep up with dopers in the third week? I really like them btw, i would love for them to be clean but it's hard to believe they are. At least they had good results since a young age, and while skinny they don't look completely gaunt, so i can actually watch them during a race without instantly thinking "this is preposterous".

Dekker_Tifosi wrote:i'm not saying they are, i'm just saying it's not so sudden and unexpected when you have been buying a pick o the best u23 talents for years and develop them for years.

Which is why i mentioned in the opening post that the results by these riders in itself is not something that would be unbelievable to me, or better said these guys having career best results is not something that shocks me. However it is the combination of the level of their results (it's not just career best, it is for all a massive step upwards) and that all these riders are getting these results that makes my radar go off.

Could just be a good year. I'll await the next years to see if there's something Sky'something going on.If we have TDF train consisting of Kamna, Hofstede, Oomen, Kelderman and finally Dumoulin destroying the rest of the field like nothing, then it's something entirely different

DanielSong39 wrote:Looks like they're odds-on to win the Men's Time Trial?

Dumoulin should be the favorite and Kelderman figures to contend. Should outpace the Froome/Kwiatkowski/Kiryienka trio from Sky.

Something must be wrong with Dennis and Roglic; normally Dennis would be the favorite and Roglic would be a strong contender.

Dennis is close to invincible at the moment but only up to around 15-20 kms, then Dumoulin, Martin, Kiriyenka etc start taking over. He's probably the best TTTer around as well. I'd love to see him have a shot at the pursuit too.